Game Reviews

A unique and well-designed entry in the "bullet hell" class of shoot-em-ups, Cave's DeathSmiles is an exciting and addicting shooter that, while incredibly fun for fans of the genre, definitely isn't for everyone.

There's a Japanese developer called Cave whom I've long adored that has very little presence outside their homeland. They're most known for arcade 2D scrolling shooting games -- but not just any shooting games: Cave specializes in the "bullet hell" subgenre, the sorts of shooters where enemies eventually start to fill the screen with multiple, multicolored barrages of deadly fire in crazy, intimidating patterns. Well-done art design, setting, and excellent music are also Cave hallmarks. Their games are considered AAA titles in the genre; it wouldn't be a stretch to call them the BioWare of 2D shooters.

I love these sorts of games because they inspire an intense emotional response. It's an amazing thrill when I'm weaving through an impenetrable-looking blanket of deadly enemy fire, charging through with your own weapon blazing, surviving a ferocious onslaught where the slightest mistake can spell doom. There's excitement when I go up against these impossible odds, and in the end, I'm rewarded with a feeling of overwhelming satisfaction when I've learned the game enough to triumph. But these titles aren't mainstream, especially here in North America. I had given up hope for DeathSmiles seeing a US release until Aksys's surprise announcement of it earlier this year -- a surprise I found very pleasant.DeathSmiles takes place in an alternate world where time seems frozen in a supernatural, early-20th-century Europe. You take control of one of several young, superpowered "angel" girls tasked with fighting wave after wave of demonic forces from the underworld. You'll fly through several short but challenging levels (each with adjustable difficulty settings), facing off against a huge boss at the end of each. The stages are very intense from beginning to end -- there is always something happening on screen, be it waves of bullets flying at you, enemies swarming in every direction, or perilous obstacles impeding your shots and movement.